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French preposition
The preposition de is generally summarized as "of, from, or about," but it has quite a few more meanings and uses than that.
When de is followed by the definite article le or les, the two words must contract.
le | les | But… | la | l’ | ||||
de | du | des | de la | de l’ |
However, de does not contract with the direct objects le and les.
J’ai promis de le faire – I promised to do it.
1) Origin or starting point |
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Il est du Midi. | He’s from the South of France. | ||
Nous arrivons de Lille. | We’re arriving from Lille. | ||
2) Reference point |
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Nous sommes à 5 km de la plage. | We’re 5 kilometers from the beach. | ||
Il habite à 20 minutes d’ici. | He lives 20 minutes from here. | ||
3) Possession |
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la voiture de Nicole | Nicole’s car | ||
la poste de Brest | Brest’s post office | ||
4) Description, defining feature |
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la soupe de tomates | tomato soup | ||
un bébé de 3 mois | a three-month-old baby | ||
5) Contents |
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un verre de vin | glass of wine | ||
un film de guerre | war film, film about war | ||
6) Cause or reason |
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rougir de honte | to blush with shame | ||
être mécontent de la décision | to be annoyed about the decision | ||
7) Means or manner |
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dessiner de la main gauche | to draw left-handed | ||
regarder d’un air admiratif | to look at admiringly | ||
8) Start of a period of time / range |
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J’ai travaillé de 8h à midi. | I worked from 8am to noon. | ||
du lundi au samedi | from Monday to Saturday | ||
9) Presentation of agent in the passive voice |
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Elle est très appréciée de ses étudiants. | She is well liked by her students. | ||
Je serai accompagné de mon père. | I’ll be accompanied by my father. | ||
10) After verbs |
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Many verbs must be followed by de in front of a noun or infinitive. | |||
11) After adjectives |
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Some adjectives must be followed by de in front of a noun or infinitive. | |||
12) After merci |
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Merci de votre assistance. | Thank you for your assistance. | ||
Merci de vs merci pour |
Related lessons
- Adjectives with de
- Verbs with de
- Passive voice
- À vs de
- De vs du, de la, des
- Dont – relative pronoun
- En – adverbial pronoun
- Merci de vs merci pour
- Geographical prepositions
- Introduction to prepositions
En español
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